


Always More

by Chromi



Series: Take My Breath Away [Tumblr SFW Prompt Fills] [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Devotion, Established Relationship, Hair Brushing, Introspection, Kissing, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29140512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromi/pseuds/Chromi
Summary: "It's only hair," Ace said softly, keeping a hold of Deuce's hand, pressing the tips of his fingers into the center of Deuce's palm. "They're only knots you're unpicking."Or: Deuce brushes Ace's hair after a stressful day.
Relationships: Masked Deuce/Portgas D. Ace
Series: Take My Breath Away [Tumblr SFW Prompt Fills] [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2017327
Comments: 14
Kudos: 26





	Always More

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "person A brushing person B’s Hair gently and apologizing anytime they find a knot and carefully try to untangle it" for AceDeuce. It kinda went off topic lol.

“Sorry, sorry.”

The apology came before Ace could even make a sound or flinch from the gentle tug at his scalp. This was the third time in two minutes that Deuce had apologized, and no amount of reassuring seemed to be enough to shut down his rather adorable worries.

“I told you, it doesn't hurt,” Ace said gently, reaching up to lay a hand atop of Deuce's own at his head, “so stop worrying so much.”

It had been a long day – a long week, month, year – for them, each emotionally fatigued, both clinging onto this one moment of privacy away from the rest of the crew. Being together helped – always, regardless of situation – when anxiety ran high and emotions raged from simmering to boiling molten glass that cooled, cracked, shattered. Being alone like this, with the door to Ace's room locked and barricaded for good measure, was a curing balm to a stinging burn; a pause in the madness, suspended in each other's touches, words, love.

Today, their cool-off came in the form of brushing Ace's hair.

It didn't need to be anything more than that. It _couldn't_ be anything more, not when both captain and first mate were barely holding on in the first place. Nothing more than the careful carding of Deuce's fingers through Ace's thick hair, seeking out knots before the brush could find them for itself. Always, as ever, ahead—striving forward, going above and beyond, whether it be by protecting Ace from injury in the depths of battle, or merely shielding him from the harsher pull of a brush.

“I can't not worry,” Deuce murmured, wending fingers through hair, massaging the tips into scalp. “I don't like hurting you.”

“It's only hair,” Ace said softly, keeping a hold of Deuce's hand, pressing the tips of his fingers into the center of Deuce's palm. “They're only knots you're unpicking.”

Deuce's silence was heavy, his touch weighted with an unspoken argument that Ace already knew by heart.

_It's never only knots for you though, is it, Deuce? It's always something more – something grander and abstract – that you're trying to untangle and smooth flat._

Ace tilted his head back into Deuce's touch, humming a low, content sound as those fingers pressed to his temple, circling there. The hum slid into a deep, rolling groan at the sound of the brush being laid down to allow Deuce's other hand to come into play also, the brushing turning into a welcomed head massage.

“I'll fall asleep if you keep that up,” Ace muttered dreamily, leaning back into Deuce's chest, “and then what'll you do?”

“I'll take up the brush again,” was Deuce's quiet reply, “and I'll brush your hair for you.”

Ace huffed a small laugh. “What if I sleep for hours?”

“Then I'll brush your hair for hours. You'll be knot-free by the time you wake up.”

Tilting his chin up, Ace tried to look up at Deuce, the crown of his head settling against his partner's clavicle. “You'd really sit on the floor with me like this well into the night?”

Fingers, leaving his temple, touched delicately to the underside of Ace's chin, coaxing it up higher, his head back further, until he was looking into Deuce's endlessly dark blue eyes. An upside-down kiss was eased to his lips, so reverent and gentle in its pressure and pace that Ace had to snatch at Deuce's arms, clinging onto him. Moving with him. Taking from him everything that Deuce had to offer, greedily gorging himself on a love so devoted and whole that everything – just for a moment – faded to black; faded into silence.

“There is nothing I wouldn't do for you,” Deuce breathed, fingertips leaving Ace's chin to instead trail worshiping touches along his throat, pausing only when Ace swallowed. “Nothing at all.”

Ace didn't doubt that.

Ace didn't doubt that at all.

... Yet still, there was something within him that he kept locked away – something depraved, and mean, and _hurting_ – that wanted to test that devotion. Find its limits and watch them splinter, drawing back before they broke completely. Test them. _Really_ test them.

“It's only hair, Deuce,” Ace whispered again, his lips brushing against Deuce's.

“It's never _only_ anything,” Deuce corrected him, easing them into a breathless, searching kiss that was _more_.

**Author's Note:**

> I love chatting, so feel free to send me a message on either [Tumblr](https://chromiwrites.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Chromiwrites)! I'm always open to requests and chatting about these guys!


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